1 00:00:14,518 --> 00:00:16,931 We boldly approach... 2 00:00:16,931 --> 00:00:19,421 Father, You promised the Holy Spirit 3 00:00:19,421 --> 00:00:21,315 to them that ask. 4 00:00:21,315 --> 00:00:23,747 We know that the Spirit has come 5 00:00:23,747 --> 00:00:26,104 into this world to glorify Christ. 6 00:00:26,104 --> 00:00:27,433 That's what we want. 7 00:00:27,433 --> 00:00:30,505 Lord, give us the Spirit, we pray. 8 00:00:30,535 --> 00:00:33,396 Give Him. As You've said for us to pray. 9 00:00:33,396 --> 00:00:35,649 We ask. 10 00:00:35,649 --> 00:00:37,602 And Lord, we pray that we might have the Spirit 11 00:00:37,602 --> 00:00:39,460 that we would bring forth greater 12 00:00:39,460 --> 00:00:41,372 glory to Christ in the year ahead. 13 00:00:41,372 --> 00:00:42,652 Whatever it is. 14 00:00:42,652 --> 00:00:44,551 Whether it's in mission, whether it's in evangelism, 15 00:00:44,551 --> 00:00:45,805 whether it's in any type of outreach, 16 00:00:45,805 --> 00:00:46,959 whether it's in benevolence, 17 00:00:46,959 --> 00:00:49,623 whether it's in the love right here among ourselves, 18 00:00:49,623 --> 00:00:52,976 whether it's in our worship, whether it's in our singing, 19 00:00:52,976 --> 00:00:54,785 whatever it is, we pray that the Spirit of God 20 00:00:54,785 --> 00:00:57,337 would be unleashed upon the east side of 21 00:00:57,337 --> 00:01:01,068 San Antonio, that Christ might have all the glory. 22 00:01:01,068 --> 00:01:05,543 That these old refuges of demons out in these streets, 23 00:01:05,543 --> 00:01:08,782 that all these old places, broken down walls, 24 00:01:08,782 --> 00:01:11,280 that we may be the repairer of the breach, 25 00:01:11,280 --> 00:01:14,398 restorers of streets to be dwelt among. 26 00:01:14,398 --> 00:01:16,872 Lord, we pray that Christ would be honored, 27 00:01:16,872 --> 00:01:18,624 that He would be magnified. 28 00:01:18,624 --> 00:01:22,416 If Christ would not be honored, then tear this church apart. 29 00:01:22,416 --> 00:01:24,676 Cast it out to the winds. 30 00:01:24,676 --> 00:01:28,007 But Lord, if You would be so pleased to cause 31 00:01:28,007 --> 00:01:31,283 that candlestick to burn bright here for one more year, 32 00:01:31,283 --> 00:01:34,189 Lord, that it would emanate with the beauties of Christ, 33 00:01:34,189 --> 00:01:36,673 with the fragrance of Christ, with the light, 34 00:01:36,673 --> 00:01:39,734 the beaming light and fire, 35 00:01:39,734 --> 00:01:42,984 may it shine forth, Lord. 36 00:01:42,984 --> 00:01:46,256 Father, You have been so good to us. 37 00:01:46,256 --> 00:01:49,367 For Christ's sake, You have been good to us. 38 00:01:49,367 --> 00:01:50,823 We know it. 39 00:01:50,823 --> 00:01:54,678 We would be lying, we would be blind if we said otherwise. 40 00:01:54,678 --> 00:01:56,961 Lord, You have been good to us. 41 00:01:56,961 --> 00:02:00,677 Please Lord, show Your goodness to us today as well. 42 00:02:00,677 --> 00:02:02,419 In Christ's name we pray, Amen. 43 00:02:02,419 --> 00:02:07,077 Ok, quickly, on with our text. 44 00:02:07,077 --> 00:02:08,360 Romans 10. 45 00:02:08,360 --> 00:02:11,285 I want to read five verses to you this morning. 46 00:02:11,285 --> 00:02:20,125 Romans 10:9-13 47 00:02:20,125 --> 00:02:23,025 Romans 10:9 48 00:02:23,025 --> 00:02:26,645 "If you confess with your mouth, 49 00:02:26,645 --> 00:02:29,810 that Jesus is Lord." 50 00:02:29,810 --> 00:02:32,723 Now remember, Christ says this: 51 00:02:32,723 --> 00:02:35,393 What comes out of the mouth is 52 00:02:35,393 --> 00:02:39,057 an indication of what is in the heart. 53 00:02:39,057 --> 00:02:41,212 Now that's not to say that people 54 00:02:41,212 --> 00:02:44,454 can't just say the words, "Jesus is Lord." 55 00:02:44,454 --> 00:02:47,544 That's not what confession is. 56 00:02:47,544 --> 00:02:51,116 Confession is saying, "Jesus is Lord," 57 00:02:51,116 --> 00:02:54,452 maybe even more so by your actions sometimes. 58 00:02:54,452 --> 00:02:56,037 Remember what Scripture says, 59 00:02:56,037 --> 00:02:59,248 "by their works," (this is found in Titus) 60 00:02:59,248 --> 00:03:02,251 "by their works they deny Him." 61 00:03:02,251 --> 00:03:04,168 You can say one thing and by your works 62 00:03:04,168 --> 00:03:06,203 deny what you say. 63 00:03:06,203 --> 00:03:09,751 So just confessing Jesus as Lord doesn't save you. 64 00:03:09,751 --> 00:03:14,997 It's that belief from the heart that wells up 65 00:03:14,997 --> 00:03:19,267 in a confession through words, through life. 66 00:03:19,267 --> 00:03:21,409 It's when you're in the family, 67 00:03:21,409 --> 00:03:24,856 and they are telling you to close your mouth, 68 00:03:24,856 --> 00:03:26,420 we don't want to hear that. 69 00:03:26,420 --> 00:03:29,474 But you're going to confess Christ as Lord. 70 00:03:29,474 --> 00:03:32,144 It's in the workplace, where they say, "we don't want any of that." 71 00:03:32,144 --> 00:03:34,537 "Away with your Christ. Away with your Christianity." 72 00:03:34,537 --> 00:03:37,003 "Away with your religion. We don't want it." 73 00:03:37,003 --> 00:03:39,523 But you confess it there when it's hard. 74 00:03:39,523 --> 00:03:40,909 Some of you've heard Paul Washer say 75 00:03:40,909 --> 00:03:43,922 it's when those Roman legions came down the street 76 00:03:43,922 --> 00:03:46,736 and they said, ok, offer up your little tax, 77 00:03:46,736 --> 00:03:50,426 offer up your little worship to Ceasar. 78 00:03:50,426 --> 00:03:53,285 And the Christians would say, "Jesus is Lord." 79 00:03:53,285 --> 00:03:55,225 Not Ceasar, Jesus. 80 00:03:55,225 --> 00:03:56,885 And it would cost them. 81 00:03:56,885 --> 00:03:57,923 And that's the idea. 82 00:03:57,923 --> 00:03:59,271 It's confessing Him. 83 00:03:59,271 --> 00:04:00,310 That's what Christ says, 84 00:04:00,310 --> 00:04:03,261 "If you confess Me before men, 85 00:04:03,261 --> 00:04:05,855 I will confess you before My Father." 86 00:04:05,855 --> 00:04:08,353 That's the idea right there. 87 00:04:08,353 --> 00:04:12,024 Confessing Christ. 88 00:04:12,024 --> 00:04:15,535 And you know worked into the very fabric of this 89 00:04:15,535 --> 00:04:17,382 is they will not be put to shame. 90 00:04:17,382 --> 00:04:19,627 You see, that's the temptation. 91 00:04:19,627 --> 00:04:21,345 That's what it says there in verse 11, 92 00:04:21,345 --> 00:04:22,915 "They'll not be put to shame." 93 00:04:22,915 --> 00:04:24,408 Because that's the temptation. 94 00:04:24,408 --> 00:04:26,408 When you're before the family, the lost family, 95 00:04:26,408 --> 00:04:29,249 the world, the workplace, out there in the school, 96 00:04:29,249 --> 00:04:30,428 out there in the other places, 97 00:04:30,428 --> 00:04:33,622 that's the temptation. 98 00:04:33,622 --> 00:04:36,630 To keep your mouth shut, and to be ashamed. 99 00:04:36,630 --> 00:04:41,579 But if you confess Him as Lord, 100 00:04:41,579 --> 00:04:47,092 believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, 101 00:04:47,092 --> 00:04:48,617 you will be saved. 102 00:04:48,617 --> 00:04:52,497 Make no doubt about it, you will be saved. 103 00:04:52,497 --> 00:04:55,675 Hey, I'm not saying you just flippantly spatter off a little words, 104 00:04:55,675 --> 00:04:56,675 and you say very flippantly, 105 00:04:56,675 --> 00:04:58,698 "Well, I believe Jesus Christ was true, historic fact." 106 00:04:58,698 --> 00:05:01,254 That's not what I'm talking about. 107 00:05:01,254 --> 00:05:03,984 I'm saying if you believe truthfully in your heart, 108 00:05:03,984 --> 00:05:07,218 a faith that is willing to bank all on Christ, 109 00:05:07,218 --> 00:05:09,252 all your trust is there, I'm telling you this: 110 00:05:09,252 --> 00:05:10,888 you will be saved. 111 00:05:10,888 --> 00:05:13,469 Make no qualms about that - no argument there. 112 00:05:13,469 --> 00:05:16,744 Scripture verifies it. You will be. 113 00:05:16,744 --> 00:05:19,586 It's not an exception. You will be. 114 00:05:19,586 --> 00:05:21,643 It's not maybe, you might be. 115 00:05:21,643 --> 00:05:23,159 There's a certainty here. 116 00:05:23,159 --> 00:05:26,254 For with the heart one believes. 117 00:05:26,254 --> 00:05:27,831 Not just with the head. 118 00:05:27,831 --> 00:05:28,985 You guys have to understand this. 119 00:05:28,985 --> 00:05:32,552 Anybody can rattle off historical facts. 120 00:05:32,552 --> 00:05:36,298 Now yes, our faith is based on historical facts. 121 00:05:36,298 --> 00:05:40,212 But you can say those facts and not really believe them. 122 00:05:40,212 --> 00:05:42,807 It's the person that's willing to cast all. 123 00:05:42,807 --> 00:05:45,095 All your money. All your life. 124 00:05:45,095 --> 00:05:47,954 All your time. All your family. All your children. 125 00:05:47,954 --> 00:05:50,964 Your spouse. Everything. All your material possessions. 126 00:05:50,964 --> 00:05:52,231 It's there. 127 00:05:52,231 --> 00:05:55,098 Lord, You are Lord. It's all Yours. 128 00:05:55,098 --> 00:05:57,263 I've been bought with a price. 129 00:05:57,263 --> 00:06:03,142 That, and that alone, is the faith, the belief that justifies. 130 00:06:03,142 --> 00:06:05,522 And with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 131 00:06:05,522 --> 00:06:08,380 For the Scripture says everyone who believes in Him 132 00:06:08,380 --> 00:06:10,696 will not be put to shame. 133 00:06:10,696 --> 00:06:13,788 For there's no distinction between Jew and Greek. 134 00:06:13,788 --> 00:06:16,124 The same Lord is Lord of all, 135 00:06:16,124 --> 00:06:19,948 bestowing His riches on all who call on Him. 136 00:06:19,948 --> 00:06:27,871 For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. 137 00:06:27,871 --> 00:06:29,709 As you scan these five verses, 138 00:06:29,709 --> 00:06:33,837 it ought to be apparent to you right off. 139 00:06:33,837 --> 00:06:38,364 This is no discourse about predestination, 140 00:06:38,364 --> 00:06:40,268 nothing here about the second coming, 141 00:06:40,268 --> 00:06:43,180 this isn't about church order or gifts of the Spirit, 142 00:06:43,180 --> 00:06:46,967 nothing here about the Trinity. 143 00:06:46,967 --> 00:06:48,925 You know what? 144 00:06:48,925 --> 00:06:52,256 If you just search the word "saved" 145 00:06:52,256 --> 00:06:54,326 in your New Testaments, 146 00:06:54,326 --> 00:06:56,666 you know what you'll find? 147 00:06:56,666 --> 00:07:02,185 The word is not used anywhere in the Scriptures 148 00:07:02,185 --> 00:07:04,161 in a more condensed fashion 149 00:07:04,161 --> 00:07:06,580 than right here in these five verses. 150 00:07:06,580 --> 00:07:11,550 There's nowhere in the Scriptures that the word "saved" 151 00:07:11,550 --> 00:07:15,452 shows up three times in five verses. 152 00:07:15,452 --> 00:07:19,895 Except here. 153 00:07:19,895 --> 00:07:20,748 You know what? 154 00:07:20,748 --> 00:07:22,740 Paul's dealing with one simple subject here. 155 00:07:22,740 --> 00:07:25,241 You know what it is? 156 00:07:25,241 --> 00:07:29,425 Being saved. 157 00:07:29,425 --> 00:07:30,817 You can see it. Right? 158 00:07:30,817 --> 00:07:33,453 You see the word right there at the end of verse 9? 159 00:07:33,453 --> 00:07:36,403 You see it again at the end of verse 10. 160 00:07:36,403 --> 00:07:39,753 You see it again at the end of the verse 13. 161 00:07:39,753 --> 00:07:42,542 Ok, now everybody says, alright, we see it. 162 00:07:42,542 --> 00:07:47,655 Now let's move on to something more interesting. 163 00:07:47,655 --> 00:07:49,980 But hold on just a second... 164 00:07:49,980 --> 00:07:51,117 let me tell you something, 165 00:07:51,117 --> 00:07:54,156 the word "saved" - 166 00:07:54,156 --> 00:07:57,816 there are few words associated 167 00:07:57,816 --> 00:08:00,929 with Christianity more than that word. 168 00:08:00,929 --> 00:08:04,044 We hear it all the time, right? 169 00:08:04,044 --> 00:08:06,339 I mean how many of you have not heard that 170 00:08:06,339 --> 00:08:12,809 quaint, little expression, "Jesus saves"? 171 00:08:12,809 --> 00:08:14,795 You've seen it on bumper stickers, 172 00:08:14,795 --> 00:08:16,995 you've probably seen it on billboards, 173 00:08:16,995 --> 00:08:20,136 you've seen it at ballgames. 174 00:08:20,136 --> 00:08:22,916 You don't see it so much anymore at ballgames. 175 00:08:22,916 --> 00:08:25,221 You don't see John 3:16 in the end zone anymore. 176 00:08:25,221 --> 00:08:26,913 What happened to that? 177 00:08:26,913 --> 00:08:28,703 I guess people going to football games 178 00:08:28,703 --> 00:08:32,213 are more pagan now than ever, right? 179 00:08:32,213 --> 00:08:35,574 The beer drinkers probably threw a few bottles, 180 00:08:35,574 --> 00:08:40,842 and they realized they weren't welcome there. 181 00:08:40,842 --> 00:08:43,039 Let me tell you something, 182 00:08:43,039 --> 00:08:45,162 people love to talk that way. 183 00:08:45,162 --> 00:08:46,529 "Oh, I'm saved!" 184 00:08:46,529 --> 00:08:47,904 "I got saved when I was three." 185 00:08:47,904 --> 00:08:50,989 "I was baptized. I got saved." 186 00:08:50,989 --> 00:08:52,858 People love to throw that term around. 187 00:08:52,858 --> 00:08:54,809 Saved, saved, saved. 188 00:08:54,809 --> 00:08:55,796 We hear it a lot. 189 00:08:55,796 --> 00:08:57,951 People walk in here, "Are you saved?" 190 00:08:57,951 --> 00:08:59,868 "Oh yeah, I'm saved." 191 00:08:59,868 --> 00:09:02,984 They're not saved, but they say they are. 192 00:09:02,984 --> 00:09:05,425 Because they haven't bowed the knee to Christ. 193 00:09:05,425 --> 00:09:08,134 There's no confession of His Lordship in their life. 194 00:09:08,134 --> 00:09:09,359 Not by their works. 195 00:09:09,359 --> 00:09:10,929 Oh, they might say, "do you believe Jesus is Lord?" 196 00:09:10,929 --> 00:09:13,929 "Oh yeah, I believe He's Lord." 197 00:09:13,929 --> 00:09:15,842 Then they walk right out and they're slaves to sin. 198 00:09:15,842 --> 00:09:17,907 They're not obeying Him. 199 00:09:17,907 --> 00:09:19,488 Don't you realize what it says? 200 00:09:19,488 --> 00:09:25,064 Why call ye Me, 'Lord, Lord,' 201 00:09:25,064 --> 00:09:28,989 and then you don't do the will of My Father in heaven? 202 00:09:28,989 --> 00:09:31,082 It's not those who say, "Lord, Lord." 203 00:09:31,082 --> 00:09:33,157 It's those who do the will of the Father. 204 00:09:33,157 --> 00:09:35,377 You say you've got to be doing something to get saved? 205 00:09:35,377 --> 00:09:37,509 I'm saying this, if you're truly saved, 206 00:09:37,509 --> 00:09:39,550 if you truly have that faith that saves, 207 00:09:39,550 --> 00:09:41,561 you're going to submit to Christ. 208 00:09:41,561 --> 00:09:43,715 Because that's what happens. 209 00:09:43,715 --> 00:09:45,836 God says under the new covenant, 210 00:09:45,836 --> 00:09:48,814 I'm going to write My laws on their heart. 211 00:09:48,814 --> 00:09:50,385 I'm going to break their heart. 212 00:09:50,385 --> 00:09:51,882 I'm going to take that old stony thing out. 213 00:09:51,882 --> 00:09:53,670 I'm going to put a heart of flesh in. 214 00:09:53,670 --> 00:09:55,989 My laws will not be grievous. 215 00:09:55,989 --> 00:09:58,369 And if you say that you are a Christian, 216 00:09:58,369 --> 00:10:01,241 1 John 2 says, "but you don't keep His commandments, 217 00:10:01,241 --> 00:10:03,507 you're a liar. The truth isn't in you." 218 00:10:03,507 --> 00:10:05,949 Oh, I hope that just rings in our heads. 219 00:10:05,949 --> 00:10:07,017 I'm trying to lay down, 220 00:10:07,017 --> 00:10:10,705 true Christianity is that which submits 221 00:10:10,705 --> 00:10:12,119 to the Lordship of Christ. 222 00:10:12,119 --> 00:10:13,622 It's that one thing. 223 00:10:13,622 --> 00:10:16,440 People banter around this idea of being saved 224 00:10:16,440 --> 00:10:17,896 all the time, "I'm saved." 225 00:10:17,896 --> 00:10:20,888 And people come along, "yeah, I've been saved five times." 226 00:10:20,888 --> 00:10:22,458 "Six times." 227 00:10:22,458 --> 00:10:24,447 Well, that's not a salvation that I want! 228 00:10:24,447 --> 00:10:26,138 If you can lose it, it's no good. 229 00:10:26,138 --> 00:10:28,336 That's not being saved. 230 00:10:28,336 --> 00:10:29,945 What are you saved from? 231 00:10:29,945 --> 00:10:34,509 You're certainly not saved if you can lose it. 232 00:10:34,509 --> 00:10:36,515 So here's what we're dealing with: saved. 233 00:10:36,515 --> 00:10:40,561 Greek word: sozo 234 00:10:40,561 --> 00:10:44,185 Of the 110 times it's found in our New Testaments, 235 00:10:44,185 --> 00:10:47,215 93 times (that's about 85% of the time) 236 00:10:47,215 --> 00:10:52,572 it's translated "save" or some form of that (saved). 237 00:10:52,572 --> 00:10:55,513 Now listen, as I began studying this 238 00:10:55,513 --> 00:10:58,128 you know a lot of times I don't know where I'm going. 239 00:10:58,128 --> 00:11:01,035 I sit down and I open up my Bible 240 00:11:01,035 --> 00:11:03,361 and I start reading the next section of Scripture. 241 00:11:03,361 --> 00:11:05,347 I don't often know how far I'm going, 242 00:11:05,347 --> 00:11:06,892 what I'm going to deal with, 243 00:11:06,892 --> 00:11:08,402 I just begin reading. 244 00:11:08,402 --> 00:11:09,615 Sometimes I know ahead of time. 245 00:11:09,615 --> 00:11:12,451 Sometimes I can see out two or three weeks. 246 00:11:12,451 --> 00:11:14,119 But this week, I opened up 247 00:11:14,119 --> 00:11:15,789 and I began reading these five verses 248 00:11:15,789 --> 00:11:17,795 over and over and over. 249 00:11:17,795 --> 00:11:20,634 And this word "saved." 250 00:11:20,634 --> 00:11:22,738 And I really began to think about, 251 00:11:22,738 --> 00:11:25,180 what does it mean? 252 00:11:25,180 --> 00:11:27,602 And I'll tell you something that really probably pushed me off 253 00:11:27,602 --> 00:11:32,940 in the direction that I want to go this morning. 254 00:11:32,940 --> 00:11:38,192 I have Bible software that allows me to look at other translations. 255 00:11:38,192 --> 00:11:40,213 Let me tell you something. 256 00:11:40,213 --> 00:11:45,444 There is an English word 257 00:11:45,444 --> 00:11:55,773 that is usually used to define the word "save." 258 00:11:55,773 --> 00:11:58,821 Linguistically, in the English language, 259 00:11:58,821 --> 00:12:04,775 it's almost spelled the same except one letter is swapped. 260 00:12:04,775 --> 00:12:15,524 And they're actually swapped for a letter that's very similar. 261 00:12:15,524 --> 00:12:22,198 You know what, it's the word "safe." 262 00:12:22,198 --> 00:12:27,596 William Tyndale, 16th century martyr, 263 00:12:27,596 --> 00:12:31,104 burned at the stake by the Roman Catholic church. 264 00:12:31,104 --> 00:12:33,862 What did he do? 265 00:12:33,862 --> 00:12:35,544 Must have been some pretty terrible crimes 266 00:12:35,544 --> 00:12:38,170 to take a man and burn him at the stake. 267 00:12:38,170 --> 00:12:40,158 What did he do? Rape a bunch of little children? 268 00:12:40,158 --> 00:12:43,893 Was he a serial killer? 269 00:12:43,893 --> 00:12:46,985 Roman Catholic church 270 00:12:46,985 --> 00:12:49,985 That's what God saved me out of. 271 00:12:49,985 --> 00:12:53,098 Leddy, where are you at? 272 00:12:53,098 --> 00:12:58,298 You got saved out of that. 273 00:12:58,298 --> 00:13:01,846 What did the guy do? 274 00:13:01,846 --> 00:13:08,902 He translated and published the New Testament Scriptures. 275 00:13:08,902 --> 00:13:10,658 Let me tell you something. 276 00:13:10,658 --> 00:13:14,382 In his translation of the New Testament published in 1525, 277 00:13:14,382 --> 00:13:20,022 he actually translated Romans 10:10 this way, 278 00:13:20,022 --> 00:13:24,125 "For the belief of the heart justifieth, 279 00:13:24,125 --> 00:13:29,880 and to knowledge with the mouth, (that's confession) 280 00:13:29,880 --> 00:13:36,882 maketh a man safe." 281 00:13:36,882 --> 00:13:39,452 Romans 10:13 he translates this way. 282 00:13:39,452 --> 00:13:42,937 Now listen, Tyndale is largely the source 283 00:13:42,937 --> 00:13:48,732 from which the translators of all of the English 284 00:13:48,732 --> 00:13:51,229 translations come from. 285 00:13:51,229 --> 00:13:54,749 The King James was taken largely from Tyndale's work. 286 00:13:54,749 --> 00:13:58,128 And all subsequent translations as well 287 00:13:58,128 --> 00:14:01,228 owe much to Tyndale's work. 288 00:14:01,228 --> 00:14:03,313 Listen to what he does with Romans 10:13, 289 00:14:03,313 --> 00:14:06,680 "For whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord, 290 00:14:06,680 --> 00:14:09,922 shall be safe." 291 00:14:09,922 --> 00:14:13,371 As I got looking at that, 292 00:14:13,371 --> 00:14:16,911 I suddenly began to feel 293 00:14:16,911 --> 00:14:21,530 this fear rise up in me. 294 00:14:21,530 --> 00:14:23,670 Men are not safe. 295 00:14:23,670 --> 00:14:27,096 When we start talking about "saved," 296 00:14:27,096 --> 00:14:29,411 the gut level meaning of saved, 297 00:14:29,411 --> 00:14:32,729 it carries the idea of making safe. 298 00:14:32,729 --> 00:14:37,560 If men need to be saved, they are not safe. 299 00:14:37,560 --> 00:14:39,245 You don't talk about being saved, 300 00:14:39,245 --> 00:14:40,697 unless there is peril. 301 00:14:40,697 --> 00:14:44,621 Unless there is danger. 302 00:14:44,621 --> 00:14:52,005 People, the human race, is not safe. 303 00:14:52,005 --> 00:14:53,718 Think about that. 304 00:14:53,718 --> 00:14:58,833 The very concept demands a scary reality. 305 00:14:58,833 --> 00:15:05,846 It demands that there is something here. 306 00:15:05,846 --> 00:15:07,759 There is something around us. 307 00:15:07,759 --> 00:15:12,357 There is something out there, 308 00:15:12,357 --> 00:15:14,575 that is constantly looming. 309 00:15:14,575 --> 00:15:16,319 That is constantly reaching. 310 00:15:16,319 --> 00:15:19,126 That is constantly coming for man. 311 00:15:19,126 --> 00:15:24,742 That is endangering him with some type of harm, 312 00:15:24,742 --> 00:15:29,259 with some sort of death, with some sort of calamity. 313 00:15:29,259 --> 00:15:32,969 Something is out there. Something is there. 314 00:15:32,969 --> 00:15:35,788 Now, if somebody says, well, of course, 315 00:15:35,788 --> 00:15:38,668 hell's out there. 316 00:15:38,668 --> 00:15:41,128 That makes us afraid. 317 00:15:41,128 --> 00:15:45,150 After all, hell can burn us. Hell can harm us. 318 00:15:45,150 --> 00:15:47,728 Hell can trap us. 319 00:15:47,728 --> 00:15:52,058 Hell - it's thirsty for the souls of wicked men, 320 00:15:52,058 --> 00:15:55,586 and that makes us afraid. 321 00:15:55,586 --> 00:16:00,603 Because we are such men. 322 00:16:00,603 --> 00:16:03,444 But what is it? 323 00:16:03,444 --> 00:16:05,844 What is hell? 324 00:16:05,844 --> 00:16:08,785 Hell is a place. That's all it is. 325 00:16:08,785 --> 00:16:10,024 It's just a place. 326 00:16:10,024 --> 00:16:13,209 Yes, it may be a scary place, but it's nothing more than that. 327 00:16:13,209 --> 00:16:14,898 And you know what, on top of that? 328 00:16:14,898 --> 00:16:20,247 It's a place none of you currently are. 329 00:16:20,247 --> 00:16:22,142 So why do you fear it? 330 00:16:22,142 --> 00:16:26,763 You say well I fear it because, I might go there one day. 331 00:16:26,763 --> 00:16:29,317 And that's right. 332 00:16:29,317 --> 00:16:32,525 That's right. 333 00:16:32,525 --> 00:16:38,069 But listen to me, it's not like hell 334 00:16:38,069 --> 00:16:41,897 comes and gets us where we are. 335 00:16:41,897 --> 00:16:45,158 Look folks, hell is not the reason why men are not safe. 336 00:16:45,158 --> 00:16:47,821 There's something out there is that is far more terrifying 337 00:16:47,821 --> 00:16:51,206 than hell that men need protection from. 338 00:16:51,206 --> 00:16:53,345 You know what makes it so unsafe for us to 339 00:16:53,345 --> 00:16:54,730 walk about in this world? 340 00:16:54,730 --> 00:16:58,559 For sinful men to even walk down this sidewalk? 341 00:16:58,559 --> 00:17:00,804 What is it that makes it so unsafe? 342 00:17:00,804 --> 00:17:03,929 It certainly isn't hell. It certainly isn't the devil. 343 00:17:03,929 --> 00:17:07,803 Folks, it's something far, far more dangerous 344 00:17:07,803 --> 00:17:08,911 than those things. 345 00:17:08,911 --> 00:17:18,308 It's man's worst nightmare. 346 00:17:18,308 --> 00:17:25,488 What you and I need to be saved from... 347 00:17:25,488 --> 00:17:30,024 That thing in this world that is not safe... 348 00:17:30,024 --> 00:17:33,750 is God Himself. 349 00:17:33,750 --> 00:17:37,662 You know what? Jesus knew this. 350 00:17:37,662 --> 00:17:39,839 When He came to the earth and He walked among us, 351 00:17:39,839 --> 00:17:41,619 He warned us. 352 00:17:41,619 --> 00:17:43,242 He said, men, don't be foolish. Open your eyes. 353 00:17:43,242 --> 00:17:46,193 The thing that you've got to fear is not 354 00:17:46,193 --> 00:17:48,360 what you so typically fear. 355 00:17:48,360 --> 00:17:49,689 It is something else. 356 00:17:49,689 --> 00:17:51,800 Men walk about - I'll guarantee you go out on these streets, 357 00:17:51,800 --> 00:17:52,902 what do they fear? 358 00:17:52,902 --> 00:17:55,558 They fear the police. 359 00:17:55,558 --> 00:17:58,193 They fear finding out they've got AIDS. 360 00:17:58,193 --> 00:18:00,210 Yes, they may fear hell, but you say, "do you fear God?" 361 00:18:00,210 --> 00:18:01,807 No, they don't fear God. 362 00:18:01,807 --> 00:18:03,187 Why? Because in their mind He's 363 00:18:03,187 --> 00:18:05,919 just this big old fat Santa Claus old man up in the sky 364 00:18:05,919 --> 00:18:07,670 sitting there smiling at them. 365 00:18:07,670 --> 00:18:09,819 If they realized what God was, if they could see 366 00:18:09,819 --> 00:18:11,725 the way He's looking at them right now, 367 00:18:11,725 --> 00:18:15,266 they would be terrified beyond description. 368 00:18:15,266 --> 00:18:17,239 And Christ comes to this earth, 369 00:18:17,239 --> 00:18:19,108 and He says I will warn you. 370 00:18:19,108 --> 00:18:20,814 He warned us. 371 00:18:20,814 --> 00:18:24,661 I will warn you Whom you should fear. 372 00:18:24,661 --> 00:18:29,388 Luke 12:5, "You should fear Him Who after He has killed, 373 00:18:29,388 --> 00:18:32,958 has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you..." 374 00:18:32,958 --> 00:18:35,924 Not fear hell, not fear death, not fear the devil, 375 00:18:35,924 --> 00:18:38,452 Christ says fear Him. 376 00:18:38,452 --> 00:18:40,091 Fear Him Who has that authority. 377 00:18:40,091 --> 00:18:45,659 In Matthew 10:28, "Fear Him Who can destroy 378 00:18:45,659 --> 00:18:50,668 both soul and body in hell." 379 00:18:50,668 --> 00:18:57,451 So many people say, "My god is not like that." 380 00:18:57,451 --> 00:18:59,794 "My god wouldn't do that." 381 00:18:59,794 --> 00:19:01,693 Let me tell you something, your god is not 382 00:19:01,693 --> 00:19:03,850 the God of the Scriptures. 383 00:19:03,850 --> 00:19:06,735 One of the most terrifying texts in the Bible, 384 00:19:06,735 --> 00:19:09,770 Psalm 50:22, you know what the Lord 385 00:19:09,770 --> 00:19:12,736 threatens to do to sinners? 386 00:19:12,736 --> 00:19:17,448 Our ESV says "tear them apart." 387 00:19:17,448 --> 00:19:19,509 All other translations, 388 00:19:19,509 --> 00:19:24,198 God is threatening to tear sinners to pieces. 389 00:19:24,198 --> 00:19:27,153 The Lord is the One Who we looked at last week 390 00:19:27,153 --> 00:19:29,782 in Luke 19, Who says bring My enemies before Me 391 00:19:29,782 --> 00:19:31,697 and slaughter them 392 00:19:31,697 --> 00:19:34,697 before Me. 393 00:19:34,697 --> 00:19:37,116 This is the God of Scripture. 394 00:19:37,116 --> 00:19:38,755 All of you guys turn back in your Bibles right now 395 00:19:38,755 --> 00:19:40,835 to Romans 5. It's not far away. 396 00:19:40,835 --> 00:19:44,435 I want you to see this. Romans 5:9 397 00:19:44,435 --> 00:19:47,733 The Apostle Paul, he's preaching the Gospel. 398 00:19:47,733 --> 00:19:50,934 In one of the most extended, intricate fashions 399 00:19:50,934 --> 00:19:52,984 that you can find in the Scriptures. 400 00:19:52,984 --> 00:19:54,328 Powerful. 401 00:19:54,328 --> 00:20:01,138 And in Romans 5:9, you tell me - you guys read that. 402 00:20:01,138 --> 00:20:03,003 Let your eyes go through that verse right there. 403 00:20:03,003 --> 00:20:06,448 You tell me what that verse tells us we need to be saved from. 404 00:20:06,448 --> 00:20:10,110 The wrath of God. 405 00:20:10,110 --> 00:20:13,102 Now listen, wrath is not like this detached, 406 00:20:13,102 --> 00:20:14,692 separate thing from God. 407 00:20:14,692 --> 00:20:16,101 It is God's wrath. 408 00:20:16,101 --> 00:20:18,470 It is God Himself that has the wrath. 409 00:20:18,470 --> 00:20:20,946 It's not like wrath is some separated thing, 410 00:20:20,946 --> 00:20:22,019 out there down the street, 411 00:20:22,019 --> 00:20:23,420 away from Him. 412 00:20:23,420 --> 00:20:24,932 It's God's wrath. 413 00:20:24,932 --> 00:20:29,657 He's saying you've got to be saved from God. 414 00:20:29,657 --> 00:20:35,953 How easily and flippantly men talk of being saved. 415 00:20:35,953 --> 00:20:39,502 But they have no idea what it is that they truly 416 00:20:39,502 --> 00:20:41,593 need to be saved from. 417 00:20:41,593 --> 00:20:46,697 My friend, God is not this pushover old man 418 00:20:46,697 --> 00:20:49,389 up in the sky somewhere. 419 00:20:49,389 --> 00:20:52,656 He is the Lord God Almighty. 420 00:20:52,656 --> 00:20:56,547 The whole earth is full of His glory. 421 00:20:56,547 --> 00:20:59,724 He is fearful. 422 00:20:59,724 --> 00:21:03,468 He is your greatest need of salvation. 423 00:21:03,468 --> 00:21:06,988 What you need to be saved from is from Him. 424 00:21:06,988 --> 00:21:10,019 That's what men need to be saved from. 425 00:21:10,019 --> 00:21:12,392 Sinners are not safe. 426 00:21:12,392 --> 00:21:13,998 Because God is out there. 427 00:21:13,998 --> 00:21:17,316 Because God is not safe. 428 00:21:17,316 --> 00:21:18,966 Oh how men should fear. 429 00:21:18,966 --> 00:21:21,502 And I'm telling you, some of you sit in this room right now, 430 00:21:21,502 --> 00:21:23,937 you've got false professions. 431 00:21:23,937 --> 00:21:28,576 They aren't worth the money you've got in your pocket. 432 00:21:28,576 --> 00:21:31,612 You've never truly submitted to Christ. 433 00:21:31,612 --> 00:21:35,611 You walk around with this foggy deception 434 00:21:35,611 --> 00:21:37,730 about being saved. 435 00:21:37,730 --> 00:21:39,635 You like to calm your fears 436 00:21:39,635 --> 00:21:42,253 and tell yourself all is going to be well. 437 00:21:42,253 --> 00:21:44,025 This God is out there. 438 00:21:44,025 --> 00:21:45,522 And He's coming for you. 439 00:21:45,522 --> 00:21:47,480 And I'll tell you, all your false profession does 440 00:21:47,480 --> 00:21:51,590 is add to the wickedness, and add to the wrath, 441 00:21:51,590 --> 00:21:54,023 and add to what God is going to bring on your head 442 00:21:54,023 --> 00:21:57,886 very soon if you do not seek refuge in His Son. 443 00:21:57,886 --> 00:22:00,702 There's only one place of safetly, folks. 444 00:22:00,702 --> 00:22:03,110 You are not safe where you are outside of Christ. 445 00:22:03,110 --> 00:22:04,967 You can have the greatest profession in the world, 446 00:22:04,967 --> 00:22:06,412 but if you are outside of Christ, 447 00:22:06,412 --> 00:22:11,746 if you're deceived, you better fear. 448 00:22:11,746 --> 00:22:15,243 Christ Himself the Savior warned you. 449 00:22:15,243 --> 00:22:19,079 Fear Him. 450 00:22:19,079 --> 00:22:20,979 Do you know what? I know how this was. 451 00:22:20,979 --> 00:22:23,195 I was living in all sorts of sin. 452 00:22:23,195 --> 00:22:25,655 You go back 20 years, there I am, 453 00:22:25,655 --> 00:22:28,609 head over heels immersed in the muck 454 00:22:28,609 --> 00:22:30,123 and the filth of my sin. 455 00:22:30,123 --> 00:22:32,688 And you know what I thought? 456 00:22:32,688 --> 00:22:36,102 I thought God was smiling on me. 457 00:22:36,102 --> 00:22:38,282 Have you guys been there? 458 00:22:38,282 --> 00:22:39,965 I don't doubt we've got some lost people 459 00:22:39,965 --> 00:22:41,459 in this place right now. 460 00:22:41,459 --> 00:22:43,023 That's your perception. 461 00:22:43,023 --> 00:22:46,468 Wicked men typically think God is pleased with them, 462 00:22:46,468 --> 00:22:49,175 not really too concerned about their sin. 463 00:22:49,175 --> 00:22:50,743 Many have this concept in their mind, 464 00:22:50,743 --> 00:22:52,582 that He just sort of winks at their sin. 465 00:22:52,582 --> 00:22:54,457 Kicks it under the rug. 466 00:22:54,457 --> 00:22:56,198 Not a big deal. 467 00:22:56,198 --> 00:22:58,446 Many people imagine God up there in heaven, 468 00:22:58,446 --> 00:23:00,600 you know kind of weak, wringing his hands, 469 00:23:00,600 --> 00:23:01,971 "oh, you know I'm doing everything I can 470 00:23:01,971 --> 00:23:03,706 for those poor sinners down there. 471 00:23:03,706 --> 00:23:05,410 There's nothing left for me to do, 472 00:23:05,410 --> 00:23:06,962 it's all left in their hands now. 473 00:23:06,962 --> 00:23:09,167 Oh, I want them to be saved so bad. 474 00:23:09,167 --> 00:23:11,095 I just have all these good purposes, 475 00:23:11,095 --> 00:23:13,199 and I'm smiling at them. I'm crying for them. 476 00:23:13,199 --> 00:23:17,086 And everything in me, I just wish there was more I could do." 477 00:23:17,086 --> 00:23:19,221 People have this idea that God is like that. 478 00:23:19,221 --> 00:23:22,439 I'll tell you what, that's a misguided notion. 479 00:23:22,439 --> 00:23:24,334 People running around with this idea: 480 00:23:24,334 --> 00:23:26,100 God never puts anybody in hell. 481 00:23:26,100 --> 00:23:28,821 Your own sins take you there. 482 00:23:28,821 --> 00:23:34,623 Oh, you have misread your Bibles if you think that. 483 00:23:34,623 --> 00:23:37,204 Christ says you better fear Him Who 484 00:23:37,204 --> 00:23:42,773 has the authority to cast into hell. 485 00:23:42,773 --> 00:23:43,819 Bank on it. 486 00:23:43,819 --> 00:23:45,682 It will be God. 487 00:23:45,682 --> 00:23:47,641 If you go to hell in this room, 488 00:23:47,641 --> 00:23:51,666 it will be God who cast you there. 489 00:23:51,666 --> 00:23:52,728 And He wil do it. 490 00:23:52,728 --> 00:23:56,581 And He will do it for certain. 491 00:23:56,581 --> 00:23:58,862 He is not safe. 492 00:23:58,862 --> 00:24:01,047 If you are walking in your sins, 493 00:24:01,047 --> 00:24:03,848 you are not safe. 494 00:24:03,848 --> 00:24:06,836 You imagine there's any reluctance? 495 00:24:06,836 --> 00:24:09,107 There's any weakness with God to cast wicked men 496 00:24:09,107 --> 00:24:10,566 into hell this very moment? 497 00:24:10,566 --> 00:24:12,343 I'll tell you when God rises up, 498 00:24:12,343 --> 00:24:14,116 who's going to resist Him? 499 00:24:14,116 --> 00:24:15,601 Who's going to stand in His way? 500 00:24:15,601 --> 00:24:17,863 If He put men in hell, I'll tell you what, 501 00:24:17,863 --> 00:24:19,346 they're going in there right now. 502 00:24:19,346 --> 00:24:21,293 Multitudes are going in there right now. 503 00:24:21,293 --> 00:24:22,582 Do you think God's got any reluctance 504 00:24:22,582 --> 00:24:25,243 to throw sinners into hell? 505 00:24:25,243 --> 00:24:27,150 He does not. 506 00:24:27,150 --> 00:24:32,915 Hell is filling up even this very moment. 507 00:24:32,915 --> 00:24:34,291 Just because some guy's off in India 508 00:24:34,291 --> 00:24:36,447 somewhere or Africa, living in his wickedness, 509 00:24:36,447 --> 00:24:38,934 beholding what he can of the glory of God 510 00:24:38,934 --> 00:24:41,345 in the creation, and he refuses it, 511 00:24:41,345 --> 00:24:43,970 he denies it, he suppresses it. 512 00:24:43,970 --> 00:24:46,667 I'm telling you what, there's no reluctance with God 513 00:24:46,667 --> 00:24:48,873 to take somebody like that and cast them into hell. 514 00:24:48,873 --> 00:24:52,637 They're going in there by the millions. 515 00:24:52,637 --> 00:24:54,569 Absolutely. 516 00:24:54,569 --> 00:24:58,546 Listen to this, Nahum 1:6, 517 00:24:58,546 --> 00:25:04,994 "Who can stand before His indignation? 518 00:25:04,994 --> 00:25:09,477 Who can endure the heat of His anger? 519 00:25:09,477 --> 00:25:12,554 His wrath is poured out like fire, 520 00:25:12,554 --> 00:25:15,697 and the rocks are broken into pieces by Him." 521 00:25:15,697 --> 00:25:17,307 You say I don't like this. 522 00:25:17,307 --> 00:25:19,740 This is not what I wanted to hear today. 523 00:25:19,740 --> 00:25:23,179 I'll tell you what. You can get in front of smooth-mouthed, 524 00:25:23,179 --> 00:25:25,948 slippery fellows that will tickle your ears 525 00:25:25,948 --> 00:25:27,850 and tell you what you want to hear. 526 00:25:27,850 --> 00:25:29,214 I know a lot of people aren't saying this, 527 00:25:29,214 --> 00:25:32,468 but this is what our Scriptures tell us. 528 00:25:32,468 --> 00:25:37,380 Look, when the whole earth trembles at His voice, 529 00:25:37,380 --> 00:25:40,202 and rocks break into pieces before Him, 530 00:25:40,202 --> 00:25:43,904 do you think you will be able to stand before Him? 531 00:25:43,904 --> 00:25:46,314 Can you feel it, sinner? 532 00:25:46,314 --> 00:25:49,770 You're not safe. 533 00:25:49,770 --> 00:25:53,201 Let me ask you this: 534 00:25:53,201 --> 00:25:56,290 What do you think there is to keep God from 535 00:25:56,290 --> 00:26:00,744 coming upon you this very hour? 536 00:26:00,744 --> 00:26:03,783 Do you think there's something standing in the way? 537 00:26:03,783 --> 00:26:06,450 Listen, you say justice. 538 00:26:06,450 --> 00:26:07,670 Justice. 539 00:26:07,670 --> 00:26:08,756 I've heard people say that. 540 00:26:08,756 --> 00:26:14,346 "All I want when I get there is what I deserve." 541 00:26:14,346 --> 00:26:17,682 Justice does not stand in the way of God throwing 542 00:26:17,682 --> 00:26:19,735 you into hell right now. 543 00:26:19,735 --> 00:26:21,319 Scripture. 544 00:26:21,319 --> 00:26:23,843 Scripture talks about "God so loved." 545 00:26:23,843 --> 00:26:26,027 Let me tell you this. 546 00:26:26,027 --> 00:26:27,781 Scripture says that everyone 547 00:26:27,781 --> 00:26:31,781 who is not obeying the Son, 548 00:26:31,781 --> 00:26:35,251 John 3:36, the wrath of God is upon you already 549 00:26:35,251 --> 00:26:42,046 and you face, what is it, John 3:16, 17, 18? 550 00:26:42,046 --> 00:26:43,448 Yes, God so loved the world, 551 00:26:43,448 --> 00:26:44,838 but I'll tell you this, 552 00:26:44,838 --> 00:26:47,269 it says that if you have not believed, 553 00:26:47,269 --> 00:26:50,109 God's condemnation is upon you. 554 00:26:50,109 --> 00:26:52,755 It's amazing how everybody wants to quote verse 16. 555 00:26:52,755 --> 00:26:57,835 What about verse 17? 18? 36? 556 00:26:57,835 --> 00:26:59,625 People don't like to go there. 557 00:26:59,625 --> 00:27:02,877 There's wrath, folks. 558 00:27:02,877 --> 00:27:05,817 There is wrath. There is condemnation. 559 00:27:05,817 --> 00:27:07,042 You know what? 560 00:27:07,042 --> 00:27:08,378 You say, what about the law? 561 00:27:08,378 --> 00:27:10,009 Let me tell you this. The law says this: 562 00:27:10,009 --> 00:27:12,892 Everyone who does not keep all things written 563 00:27:12,892 --> 00:27:16,350 in the book of the law, to do them, is cursed. 564 00:27:16,350 --> 00:27:19,043 You know what? Don't make any appeal to justice. 565 00:27:19,043 --> 00:27:20,568 Don't make any appeal to Scripture. 566 00:27:20,568 --> 00:27:22,381 Don't make any appeal to God's law. 567 00:27:22,381 --> 00:27:25,116 Because all three are standing against you. 568 00:27:25,116 --> 00:27:27,834 All three are urging God right now, 569 00:27:27,834 --> 00:27:29,557 "Cast them away!" 570 00:27:29,557 --> 00:27:31,704 They demand your head. They demand your blood. 571 00:27:31,704 --> 00:27:32,794 Justice demands it. 572 00:27:32,794 --> 00:27:33,800 Scripture demands it. 573 00:27:33,800 --> 00:27:35,683 The Law demands it. 574 00:27:35,683 --> 00:27:38,179 I'm telling you, you don't have a cheering section there with God, 575 00:27:38,179 --> 00:27:41,608 egging Him on. 576 00:27:41,608 --> 00:27:43,154 As someone has said before, 577 00:27:43,154 --> 00:27:44,616 when man first sinned, those angels were 578 00:27:44,616 --> 00:27:47,252 reaching for the hilt of their sword. 579 00:27:47,252 --> 00:27:50,092 They were looking to execute judgment. 580 00:27:50,092 --> 00:27:52,200 There's only one thing standing between 581 00:27:52,200 --> 00:27:56,303 the sinner and hell flames right this second. 582 00:27:56,303 --> 00:27:58,967 I'll tell you what, last night as I was out 583 00:27:58,967 --> 00:28:02,656 under that cloud, under the sky, 584 00:28:02,656 --> 00:28:06,575 I was looking at the horizon all the way around, 585 00:28:06,575 --> 00:28:12,288 the vastness of the sky. 586 00:28:12,288 --> 00:28:17,376 I was imagining all that I could see 587 00:28:17,376 --> 00:28:24,672 to be one massive floodgate. 588 00:28:24,672 --> 00:28:29,457 A sinner stands underneath that. 589 00:28:29,457 --> 00:28:33,218 And that thing begins to bulge. 590 00:28:33,218 --> 00:28:36,333 The wrath of God held back. 591 00:28:36,333 --> 00:28:40,788 It bulges and it creaks. 592 00:28:40,788 --> 00:28:43,487 It's about to give way. 593 00:28:43,487 --> 00:28:47,358 All the wrath of God stored up. 594 00:28:47,358 --> 00:28:49,276 Listen to me! 595 00:28:49,276 --> 00:28:55,858 Scripture does not call the sinner a child of wrath for nothing. 596 00:28:55,858 --> 00:28:59,315 It means there is wrath against you right now. 597 00:28:59,315 --> 00:29:00,638 People have this idea, 598 00:29:00,638 --> 00:29:02,932 "Oh, God is fiercely angry with those people in hell." 599 00:29:02,932 --> 00:29:04,173 Let me tell you this: 600 00:29:04,173 --> 00:29:06,094 There are some of you sitting in this room right now 601 00:29:06,094 --> 00:29:08,383 that God is more fiercely angry with than some 602 00:29:08,383 --> 00:29:11,362 he's already tormenting in hell. 603 00:29:11,362 --> 00:29:13,095 You say, "Well, why am I still here?" 604 00:29:13,095 --> 00:29:16,473 Only because your time has not run out yet. 605 00:29:16,473 --> 00:29:18,012 Theirs has. 606 00:29:18,012 --> 00:29:22,102 Some of you have committed much more 607 00:29:22,102 --> 00:29:27,711 grievous sins against God than some in hell. 608 00:29:27,711 --> 00:29:32,485 There are Africans, there are Indians in that fire right now 609 00:29:32,485 --> 00:29:34,476 that have not heard the truth that some of you 610 00:29:34,476 --> 00:29:37,838 lost folks in this room have heard. 611 00:29:37,838 --> 00:29:41,205 God's wrath against you is storing up, 612 00:29:41,205 --> 00:29:43,838 that floodgate is bulging, it is creaking, 613 00:29:43,838 --> 00:29:45,542 it is ready to come in. 614 00:29:45,542 --> 00:29:48,545 There's only one thing holding it back right now. 615 00:29:48,545 --> 00:29:55,564 It's not justice, it's not Scripture, it's not the Law of God. 616 00:29:55,564 --> 00:30:01,449 It's God's sovereign pleasure to hold it back this moment. 617 00:30:01,449 --> 00:30:03,201 That's it. 618 00:30:03,201 --> 00:30:07,532 Let me tell you something. 619 00:30:07,532 --> 00:30:14,596 There are few Scriptures that give us a glimpse. 620 00:30:14,596 --> 00:30:16,645 One of them is found back in Genesis. 621 00:30:16,645 --> 00:30:17,734 Let me tell you something. 622 00:30:17,734 --> 00:30:20,366 God comes along, He's speaking to Abraham. 623 00:30:20,366 --> 00:30:22,086 He says Abraham, let Me tell you something, 624 00:30:22,086 --> 00:30:23,970 I'm going to take your offspring, 625 00:30:23,970 --> 00:30:27,015 I'm going to take them into Egypt. 626 00:30:27,015 --> 00:30:28,662 I'm going to leave them there 400 years. 627 00:30:28,662 --> 00:30:31,488 4 generations, I'm going to leave them there. 628 00:30:31,488 --> 00:30:32,826 Why? 629 00:30:32,826 --> 00:30:36,105 Why not two generations? 630 00:30:36,105 --> 00:30:38,657 You know why? 631 00:30:38,657 --> 00:30:40,865 Because when they come out, 632 00:30:40,865 --> 00:30:45,189 they're going to kill the Amorites. 633 00:30:45,189 --> 00:30:47,567 When they come out, they are 634 00:30:47,567 --> 00:30:50,637 going to subdue seven nations in Canaan. 635 00:30:50,637 --> 00:30:54,888 You know what God says to Abraham? 636 00:30:54,888 --> 00:31:06,206 The iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full. 637 00:31:06,206 --> 00:31:09,935 You know what Daniel the prophet said? 638 00:31:09,935 --> 00:31:16,756 He speaks about transgressors not yet 639 00:31:16,756 --> 00:31:20,911 reaching their limit. 640 00:31:20,911 --> 00:31:22,977 Paul to the Thessalonians 641 00:31:22,977 --> 00:31:25,693 talks about the Jews 642 00:31:25,693 --> 00:31:29,933 filling up the measure of their sin. 643 00:31:29,933 --> 00:31:33,588 Let me tell you something, 644 00:31:33,588 --> 00:31:45,653 Sinners only sin so far. 645 00:31:45,653 --> 00:31:54,429 You cannot hide beneath a false profession. 646 00:31:54,429 --> 00:31:58,308 That floodgate is going to bulge so far. 647 00:31:58,308 --> 00:32:00,282 That measure is going to come up. 648 00:32:00,282 --> 00:32:02,868 Your time is numbered. 649 00:32:02,868 --> 00:32:04,300 You say, "Oh, I'm healthy." 650 00:32:04,300 --> 00:32:06,381 People have this idea, don't they? 651 00:32:06,381 --> 00:32:09,229 Oh, you know, the sun's shining... 652 00:32:09,229 --> 00:32:11,808 I got sick - God healed me. 653 00:32:11,808 --> 00:32:14,154 I was in this car wreck - God spared me. 654 00:32:14,154 --> 00:32:16,328 And they think because they've seen these 655 00:32:16,328 --> 00:32:18,493 little glimmers of God's mercy to preserve them 656 00:32:18,493 --> 00:32:20,743 from that pit of fire already, they suppose, 657 00:32:20,743 --> 00:32:22,628 that must mean God's wrath 658 00:32:22,628 --> 00:32:24,181 does not hang over my head. 659 00:32:24,181 --> 00:32:25,597 That must mean everything is ok. 660 00:32:25,597 --> 00:32:30,464 I've made my peace with Him upstairs. 661 00:32:30,464 --> 00:32:33,346 Don't buy into that deception. 662 00:32:33,346 --> 00:32:40,667 That floodgate is ready to unleash on your heads, 663 00:32:40,667 --> 00:32:45,267 if you have not a place of safety. 664 00:32:45,267 --> 00:32:48,213 Man is not safe. 665 00:32:48,213 --> 00:32:49,346 Let me tell you something, 666 00:32:49,346 --> 00:32:52,345 there's a time when those Israelites, 667 00:32:52,345 --> 00:32:54,198 they're out there and they began to complain, 668 00:32:54,198 --> 00:32:55,855 and they began to grumble, 669 00:32:55,855 --> 00:33:01,631 and it's like spontaneous combustion took place. 670 00:33:01,631 --> 00:33:04,215 If you've never read about it, folks, it happened. 671 00:33:04,215 --> 00:33:07,521 Numbers 11:1 - you read about it sometime. 672 00:33:07,521 --> 00:33:08,382 I'll tell you what happened. 673 00:33:08,382 --> 00:33:09,492 There was sin in the camp. 674 00:33:09,492 --> 00:33:12,019 God dwelling in that camp. 675 00:33:12,019 --> 00:33:15,874 And it's like this sin - when people have sin 676 00:33:15,874 --> 00:33:20,779 that is seething and breeding in the heart, 677 00:33:20,779 --> 00:33:23,458 you know what the natural course of things is? 678 00:33:23,458 --> 00:33:27,506 It's for God to break out in fury and fire and wrath. 679 00:33:27,506 --> 00:33:30,987 Spontaneous combustion began to consume people 680 00:33:30,987 --> 00:33:35,712 in the outer vestiges of that camp. 681 00:33:35,712 --> 00:33:38,602 Oh, we feel so secure. Our feet our planted. 682 00:33:38,602 --> 00:33:39,689 Let me tell you something, 683 00:33:39,689 --> 00:33:41,205 you may feel like your feet are planted 684 00:33:41,205 --> 00:33:42,562 on the ground right now. 685 00:33:42,562 --> 00:33:44,907 You may feel like you're pretty healthy right now. 686 00:33:44,907 --> 00:33:47,762 But I'm telling you, if you're outside of Christ, 687 00:33:47,762 --> 00:33:55,603 you are on a very rocky foundation. 688 00:33:55,603 --> 00:33:59,258 That great big massive as-far-as-the-sky 689 00:33:59,258 --> 00:34:02,614 the limits of it who can measure? 690 00:34:02,614 --> 00:34:05,487 The wrath of God. 691 00:34:05,487 --> 00:34:07,617 Who can measure the wrath 692 00:34:07,617 --> 00:34:10,841 against a lifetime of sin? 693 00:34:10,841 --> 00:34:16,431 When God's wrath against one sin of Adam and Eve 694 00:34:16,431 --> 00:34:20,406 cost them paradise, cost them their life. 695 00:34:20,406 --> 00:34:21,690 One sin. 696 00:34:21,690 --> 00:34:23,368 Who can imagine the wrath? 697 00:34:23,368 --> 00:34:26,324 When Scripture calls the lost "children of wrath," 698 00:34:26,324 --> 00:34:29,101 you've got to understand, thunderclouds are black, 699 00:34:29,101 --> 00:34:31,674 it is ready to rain torrents of wrath. 700 00:34:31,674 --> 00:34:38,025 There is only that one thing that holds it back. 701 00:34:38,025 --> 00:34:53,706 God only forebears so long. 702 00:34:53,706 --> 00:34:57,312 Let me tell you... 703 00:34:57,312 --> 00:35:01,497 I was at my step-dad's side. 704 00:35:01,497 --> 00:35:04,024 He refused Christ. 705 00:35:04,024 --> 00:35:07,790 He went to church when he found out he had terminal cancer. 706 00:35:07,790 --> 00:35:09,714 But anytime I talked to him about Christ, 707 00:35:09,714 --> 00:35:11,319 he didn't want to hear it. 708 00:35:11,319 --> 00:35:12,489 Anytime I talked to him about sin, 709 00:35:12,489 --> 00:35:14,262 he didn't want to hear it. 710 00:35:14,262 --> 00:35:16,891 He rejected Christ to his dying day. 711 00:35:16,891 --> 00:35:18,982 I was at his bedside as I watched him 712 00:35:18,982 --> 00:35:24,319 pass off into eternity. 713 00:35:24,319 --> 00:35:28,721 I'll tell you this, it's not even possible 714 00:35:28,721 --> 00:35:35,580 for us to conceive the colossal wave of the floods 715 00:35:35,580 --> 00:35:38,294 of the fierceness and wrath of God 716 00:35:38,294 --> 00:35:42,445 that rushed upon him with inconceivable fury 717 00:35:42,445 --> 00:35:46,845 and omnipotent power that moment he passed off. 718 00:35:46,845 --> 00:35:51,556 We don't see it happen, so we can become blinded to it. 719 00:35:51,556 --> 00:35:54,770 We become senseless to it. 720 00:35:54,770 --> 00:36:01,742 We can fall asleep. 721 00:36:01,742 --> 00:36:05,689 Children of wrath. 722 00:36:05,689 --> 00:36:09,468 I found this ridiculous quote on the Internet yesterday. 723 00:36:09,468 --> 00:36:10,618 Somebody makes the claim, 724 00:36:10,618 --> 00:36:13,736 "God does not send anyone to hell - they send themselves." 725 00:36:13,736 --> 00:36:15,782 One very well known televangelist, 726 00:36:15,782 --> 00:36:17,503 you'd all know his name if I said it. 727 00:36:17,503 --> 00:36:19,317 He says this, this is his quote: 728 00:36:19,317 --> 00:36:21,088 "God doesn't send anyone to hell. 729 00:36:21,088 --> 00:36:23,432 Anyone who goes to hell will be there 730 00:36:23,432 --> 00:36:26,255 because of decisions they've made. 731 00:36:26,255 --> 00:36:28,567 I'm not going to deny that people end up in hell 732 00:36:28,567 --> 00:36:29,962 because of decisions they've made." 733 00:36:29,962 --> 00:36:31,614 But he comes to this conclusion: 734 00:36:31,614 --> 00:36:34,730 "you send yourself there." 735 00:36:34,730 --> 00:36:36,692 Oh, don't be deceived. 736 00:36:36,692 --> 00:36:40,064 God casts men there. 737 00:36:40,064 --> 00:36:43,089 I'll tell you this. 738 00:36:43,089 --> 00:36:45,997 When a child of Adam, a son of Adam, a daughter of Adam, 739 00:36:45,997 --> 00:36:47,955 they walk around out in this world, 740 00:36:47,955 --> 00:36:49,399 tainted with sin, 741 00:36:49,399 --> 00:36:51,297 they are not safe. 742 00:36:51,297 --> 00:36:52,476 They may feel it. 743 00:36:52,476 --> 00:36:54,740 They may feel young. They may feel healthy. 744 00:36:54,740 --> 00:36:57,608 They may feel good. They may feel happy. 745 00:36:57,608 --> 00:37:01,583 But they are not safe. 746 00:37:01,583 --> 00:37:05,638 The very ground they walk on 747 00:37:05,638 --> 00:37:08,524 is made of such material, 748 00:37:08,524 --> 00:37:10,026 it is ready to cave in. 749 00:37:10,026 --> 00:37:11,580 Let me tell you something, 750 00:37:11,580 --> 00:37:13,916 can you imagine if you guys were right now 751 00:37:13,916 --> 00:37:21,469 walking on this decaying, rotting fabric 752 00:37:21,469 --> 00:37:24,057 out over some great chasm? 753 00:37:24,057 --> 00:37:25,197 And you're walking upon it. 754 00:37:25,197 --> 00:37:27,786 And every time you sin, bang, 755 00:37:27,786 --> 00:37:29,998 there's another weight on top of you. 756 00:37:29,998 --> 00:37:31,906 And you sin again, bang, there's another weight. 757 00:37:31,906 --> 00:37:34,656 And it's pressing you, pressing you, 758 00:37:34,656 --> 00:37:36,582 down through that rotten fabric. 759 00:37:36,582 --> 00:37:39,955 There is the mouth gaping wide open for hell. 760 00:37:39,955 --> 00:37:42,407 And every time you sin, God presses, 761 00:37:42,407 --> 00:37:45,332 that weight is coming down. 762 00:37:45,332 --> 00:37:49,557 That great big door of God's floodgate of wrath, 763 00:37:49,557 --> 00:37:51,936 bulging, ready to come forth. 764 00:37:51,936 --> 00:37:53,054 And you tempt it. 765 00:37:53,054 --> 00:37:55,607 The very hand that holds it back - 766 00:37:55,607 --> 00:37:57,904 you kick against it, you kick against it. 767 00:37:57,904 --> 00:38:01,119 With every sin, you hate God, hate His people, 768 00:38:01,119 --> 00:38:02,324 hate His Word. 769 00:38:02,324 --> 00:38:04,014 You say, that's not me - I don't hate it. 770 00:38:04,014 --> 00:38:05,630 You're talking awful graphic. 771 00:38:05,630 --> 00:38:06,978 I'm telling you this, 772 00:38:06,978 --> 00:38:09,463 if you have not bowed the knee to Jesus Christ, 773 00:38:09,463 --> 00:38:12,943 you can maybe have some concept of God in your mind. 774 00:38:12,943 --> 00:38:15,418 You can have some deception you're going to heaven. 775 00:38:15,418 --> 00:38:18,270 But you're not. 776 00:38:18,270 --> 00:38:20,038 It's not those who call Him, "Lord, Lord." 777 00:38:20,038 --> 00:38:23,295 It's those who do the will of the Father in heaven. 778 00:38:23,295 --> 00:38:25,479 You kick against His Lordship. 779 00:38:25,479 --> 00:38:28,290 Listen. 780 00:38:28,290 --> 00:38:32,634 Why it is so important there in Romans 10:9? 781 00:38:32,634 --> 00:38:34,086 That Christ came out of the grave. 782 00:38:34,086 --> 00:38:35,410 Let me tell you why it's important. 783 00:38:35,410 --> 00:38:37,895 In this epistle to the Romans, 784 00:38:37,895 --> 00:38:39,954 the one thing that Paul wants us to see 785 00:38:39,954 --> 00:38:41,846 about the resurrection from the dead 786 00:38:41,846 --> 00:38:44,117 back in Romans 1:4 is this: 787 00:38:44,117 --> 00:38:46,131 Christ coming out of the grave proved Him 788 00:38:46,131 --> 00:38:49,988 to be the Son of God in power. 789 00:38:49,988 --> 00:38:52,545 When Christ declared Himself to be the Son; 790 00:38:52,545 --> 00:38:53,987 When He said, "God is my Father." 791 00:38:53,987 --> 00:38:55,550 What did they do? 792 00:38:55,550 --> 00:38:56,788 They picked up stones. 793 00:38:56,788 --> 00:38:57,588 I'll tell you why, 794 00:38:57,588 --> 00:39:00,266 because that title "Son of God" means deity. 795 00:39:00,266 --> 00:39:01,776 It means He's equal with God. 796 00:39:01,776 --> 00:39:03,678 I'll tell you this, 797 00:39:03,678 --> 00:39:07,037 that great floodgate that is just bending 798 00:39:07,037 --> 00:39:11,848 under the weight of the wrath toward sinners, 799 00:39:11,848 --> 00:39:15,157 you realize what it means when it says, 800 00:39:15,157 --> 00:39:18,254 "He Who knew no sin became sin." 801 00:39:18,254 --> 00:39:23,199 That's not safe to become sin. 802 00:39:23,199 --> 00:39:28,948 He willingly walked out underneath that floodgate. 803 00:39:28,948 --> 00:39:33,999 He said, "Father, I'll stand in the place of My people." 804 00:39:33,999 --> 00:39:35,614 And bang! 805 00:39:35,614 --> 00:39:37,454 That floodgate came open. 806 00:39:37,454 --> 00:39:43,082 Every bit of the wrath rolled across Him. 807 00:39:43,082 --> 00:39:45,917 He drank it. 808 00:39:45,917 --> 00:39:48,095 It crushed Him. 809 00:39:48,095 --> 00:39:49,493 It wasn't a day in the park. 810 00:39:49,493 --> 00:39:52,373 It crushed Him. Every bit of it. 811 00:39:52,373 --> 00:39:55,170 He drank it dry. 812 00:39:55,170 --> 00:39:57,824 Him coming up out of that grave 813 00:39:57,824 --> 00:40:01,728 proved Him to be the Son of God with power. 814 00:40:01,728 --> 00:40:03,114 That's what you need. 815 00:40:03,114 --> 00:40:04,603 That's the only place of safety. 816 00:40:04,603 --> 00:40:06,201 This isn't a mere man we're talking about. 817 00:40:06,201 --> 00:40:07,642 He's Lord. But He's more than Lord. 818 00:40:07,642 --> 00:40:09,421 He is the Son of God. 819 00:40:09,421 --> 00:40:12,781 "My Lord and my God," is what Thomas proclaimed. 820 00:40:12,781 --> 00:40:14,102 That's what you need. 821 00:40:14,102 --> 00:40:16,411 That's your only place of safety. 822 00:40:16,411 --> 00:40:19,216 There is no other place. 823 00:40:19,216 --> 00:40:22,509 And I'll tell you this, 824 00:40:22,509 --> 00:40:26,865 everyone who calls on the name of the Lord, 825 00:40:26,865 --> 00:40:31,857 as old Tyndale said, will be safe. 826 00:40:31,857 --> 00:40:33,470 Oh, we've got to find a place of safety. 827 00:40:33,470 --> 00:40:35,089 This is why in the Old Testament, 828 00:40:35,089 --> 00:40:36,794 they came up under the priesthood 829 00:40:36,794 --> 00:40:38,296 and they're establishing the Mosaic covenant, 830 00:40:38,296 --> 00:40:41,283 they had these cities of refuge. 831 00:40:41,283 --> 00:40:42,502 What were they a picture of? 832 00:40:42,502 --> 00:40:43,546 Christ. 833 00:40:43,546 --> 00:40:44,772 You need refuge. 834 00:40:44,772 --> 00:40:45,621 You're not safe. 835 00:40:45,621 --> 00:40:46,646 You're out on the plain. 836 00:40:46,646 --> 00:40:48,074 Flee! The wrath of God is coming! 837 00:40:48,074 --> 00:40:50,799 You're out there in Sodom and Gomorrah. 838 00:40:50,799 --> 00:40:52,917 You're in the City of Destruction. 839 00:40:52,917 --> 00:40:57,018 You've got to flee. You've got to run. 840 00:40:57,018 --> 00:41:00,309 You say, "but does that include me?" 841 00:41:00,309 --> 00:41:01,915 Everyone who calls. 842 00:41:01,915 --> 00:41:03,016 It includes you if you call. 843 00:41:03,016 --> 00:41:05,327 You say, "you don't know my sin." 844 00:41:05,327 --> 00:41:08,142 Everyone who calls. 845 00:41:08,142 --> 00:41:10,140 Christ says, "Him that comes to Me, 846 00:41:10,140 --> 00:41:14,269 I will in no way cast out." 847 00:41:14,269 --> 00:41:15,143 Look. 848 00:41:15,143 --> 00:41:19,846 We're in a day, 849 00:41:19,846 --> 00:41:22,509 God has moved some, 850 00:41:22,509 --> 00:41:24,402 you've got your Jonathan Diaz, 851 00:41:24,402 --> 00:41:27,232 pulled into the Kingdom. 852 00:41:27,232 --> 00:41:29,482 Lauren Griffin, pulled in. 853 00:41:29,482 --> 00:41:33,246 Stacy Bell, pulled in. 854 00:41:33,246 --> 00:41:36,137 Why would you stay where it's not safe 855 00:41:36,137 --> 00:41:37,638 when others are coming in? 856 00:41:37,638 --> 00:41:42,220 Why stay there? 857 00:41:42,220 --> 00:41:43,357 Repent. 858 00:41:43,357 --> 00:41:44,461 And turn from it all. 859 00:41:44,461 --> 00:41:45,186 Let it all go. 860 00:41:45,186 --> 00:41:47,103 Bow the knee to Christ. 861 00:41:47,103 --> 00:41:50,418 Come to Him. 862 00:41:50,418 --> 00:41:53,142 I mean, He has proved Himself worthy. 863 00:41:53,142 --> 00:41:56,937 He has proved Himself to be the Son of God. 864 00:41:56,937 --> 00:41:59,147 And I'll tell you this, 865 00:41:59,147 --> 00:42:01,422 you come to Him, and do you know what verse 12 says? 866 00:42:01,422 --> 00:42:03,022 He'll bestow on you all the riches... 867 00:42:03,022 --> 00:42:04,894 you know how I've described this, 868 00:42:04,894 --> 00:42:06,691 and you go out to the very horizons 869 00:42:06,691 --> 00:42:07,589 all the way around. 870 00:42:07,589 --> 00:42:09,125 You see this great big floodgate. 871 00:42:09,125 --> 00:42:11,623 It's just bulging under the wrath of God. 872 00:42:11,623 --> 00:42:14,532 I'll tell you, you come to Christ, 873 00:42:14,532 --> 00:42:16,350 and now all of a sudden, 874 00:42:16,350 --> 00:42:19,131 you've got a floodgate - it's bulging. 875 00:42:19,131 --> 00:42:21,867 It's bulging with the riches of Christ, 876 00:42:21,867 --> 00:42:24,241 with the inheritance, with the love of God, 877 00:42:24,241 --> 00:42:27,501 and in Christ it's ready to burst upon your head. 878 00:42:27,501 --> 00:42:33,103 All for good. 879 00:42:33,103 --> 00:42:36,444 Folks, you're not safe. 880 00:42:36,444 --> 00:42:38,454 Or you've got a false profession and you know it. 881 00:42:38,454 --> 00:42:42,379 You know the thing is not solid. 882 00:42:42,379 --> 00:42:45,196 Call. Call fervently. Call earnestly. 883 00:42:45,196 --> 00:42:46,800 Call now. 884 00:42:46,800 --> 00:42:51,126 Call upon Him until your salvation is certain. 885 00:42:51,126 --> 00:42:53,715 Call till you find Christ. 886 00:42:53,715 --> 00:42:57,616 Call. 887 00:42:57,616 --> 00:43:00,439 Sinner, you are not safe. 888 00:43:00,439 --> 00:43:01,238 Amen.